Culinary Rivals
by 122 Generation
Summary: They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. But what if that 'man' seems to be a way better cook than you are?


**Hello, everyone! This is just a little story I thought of last year and completely based on food and cooking dramas. If you like food, then this might be the story for you! I also had a bit of inspiration from Disney's 'Ratatouille' as well.**

**Since I am currently working on Lasting Friendships, it'll be a while before I update this story, but it's worth reading as a teaser!**

**Please note that Steven, as well as Cynthia, are both 24 years old in this story.**

* * *

_**Chapter one: Dinner Hours**_

Steven Stone added the finishing touches to his work of art; that is, they were appetizing pieces of parsley garnish. The work of art in question was a delicious savoury and sour soup cooked with white wine and lemon. Overall, the soup would have the appeal of a creamy white soup finished and topped with pepper and parsley. After cooking, Steven would pour the soup from the pan to the stone plate – with a wide white bowl on top.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead and gently placed the finished work on the steel table in front of him, where a waitress would take the soup and hand it out to the customer.

"The soup will get cold soon," Steven warned her. "Hurry so they can enjoy it."

"You got it, sir!" the waitress replied happily.

It was the evening, and specifically, it was the busiest time of the evening – dinner. As head chef of the high-end first class restaurant, Steven had a lot on his hands. At least half of the meals ordered were prepared by Steven alone. The rest of his staff – a team of cooks – would cook the other half, and more than enough times Steven could count did they half to ask him if they cooked the food properly.

"Those customers are flowing in by the minute!" the waitress holding the soup added. "Tens of tens of orders are going and going –"

"Keep a cool head," Steven advised. "It helps with the focus."

Ever since he had been dethroned as Hoenn champion, the 24-year old Steven (assume he's 24) really needed to find something else to do (he was fine with being dethroned, since he needed to release the burden of League duties at some point, and he _knew_ that's what Wallace was there for). Sure, he could have excavated stones. He could have moved to Sinnoh and lived in his villa (but there was no chance of that since he _sold_ the villa). But _no…_ he needed a way to make some money. The ex-champion needed income!

And so, Steven left Hoenn for a month for the prosperous Castelia City, where he learned _how to cook_. Indeed, it was the most unexpected move anyone could have imagined. Even his own father was shocked to hear Steven wanted to learn about cooking. Even more so, Steven wanted to learn about high-end cooking. It seemed to suit him.

He nearly, nearly, failed his cooking exam in the city, where fourteen of the twenty supervisors noted how stressful Steven was cooking the food, and all the five critics called Steven's food creations 'the most appealing foods every seen'. They were serious. In addition, one of the five food critics complimented Steven with excellent appraisal.

How could Steven have nearly, nearly, failed his cooking exam if he did so well with the food creations? The answer was his desserts. During the exam, they were so badly made that four of the five food critics called the desserts 'revolting', and only one of them called the desserts 'barely and merely adequate' (and that _one_ critic's remark was the reason Steven passed). Steven failed at desserts, but received multiple accolades for his entrées.

After receiving his honours, Steven needed to find work, but for some unsuspecting reason he wanted to work in a business started by him. He had excellent management skills in the Pokémon League, so why couldn't he apply them to business? It wasn't as if all his managing skills were made for the Pokémon League alone. Still, to start a business, he needed a lot of money.

But Steven was rich, wasn't he? The suit and tie said it all.

To everyone's infuriation, Steven took a massive bank loan to start his business. The business, in fact, was named the Stone Restaurant and Bistro, hence his name.

In the most ironic sense ever, Steven purchased a huge piece of property at Kalos's Cyllage City with the loaned money. Restaurant staff jobs were created, furnishings were purchased, several state-of-the-art kitchens were installed, food orders began to arrive, and pretty much the entire first-class restaurant Steven had in mind was raised to life from the ground. Steven took the career of a head chef and manager of the establishment, and his business flourished.

A description of the restaurant, in simple terms, would be a cubic steel-framed structure that spanned two storeys high, with an all-glass exterior. The inside included white, solid flooring, with white walls and black walls, along with frosted glass and lighting illuminating off every wall. Thanks to the glass exterior, each table had a spectacular view of the ocean. In the front middle of the building, also two storeys high, there was the lobby with metal staircases and a chandelier.

Finally, there were the state-of-the-art kitchens in the rear middle of the lobby where the cooking was done. It stood only at the bottom floor.

And his staff! Apart from the cooks, waiters, and waitresses, there were also janitorial staff, museum staff, and management professionals. The cooks, excluding Steven, dressed in plain white cooking jackets all buttoned up. The waiters, waitresses, and almost everyone working there dressed in neat black suits with white ties. Steven alone continued to wear his personal black suit with purple traces and a red tie.

All except for Steven's Metagross, who hovered above the floor to deliver meals.

Steven's business started off small, but increasing popularity and happy reviews spiked revenue and profits. It wasn't bad.

Within a year, and thanks to thriving business and job opportunities as well as people paying to see his rock exhibitions, the debt the ex-Hoenn champ owed to the bank was repaid in full.

Critics from different regions came to visit his restaurant, and after the reviews were published Steven's restaurant became a popular tourist destination. It seemed coincidental that the restaurant fit in with the resort city. Aside from the design of the building, there was an exhibition museum complex built in conjunction with the restaurant showcasing Steven's personally collected stones, and it was as popular as the restaurant itself. The museum provided more jobs, and it only increased the profits of Steven's business.

Nevertheless, the only thing Steven did not make himself was desserts. Only his fellow cooks could make them, and they were… alright, but not the best.

"We've got more orders coming in!" a second waitress called out to Steven in the kitchen. "A group of sixteen has brought in a huge order. I don't know if we're going to manage this night!"

"It's all part of work," Steven assured. "Keep a steady pace, but be efficient!"

He proceeded to making the next dish – which was a simple salad. Perhaps 'simple' was an understatement, because the salad Steven was making consisted of fine greens with wonderfully fresh mushrooms, many clusters of blue cheese, red peppers, onions, grilled tomato, and served with a side of creamy honey and chive dressing.

Without saying much, Steven chopped two washed mushrooms into little blocks on a board. Concentrating on each cut, he moved the mushroom quickly, but moderately cut small pieces with the cutting knife. After the mushrooms were cleanly cut, Steven lifted the board, held it near the dish, and with the knife pushed all the little mushroom pieces onto the green salad. The board and knife were put down after.

"Who's making grilled tomato?" Despite how he said it, it wasn't a question.

"I'm on it," his 24-year old sous chef, James d'Arc, answered. "I'll bring it to you when the grilling's done."

James, a fair-haired man with a medium length haircut, went straight to placing tomato slices over the grill. He waved to Steven.

Steven nodded and continued to place the mushroom pieces onto the salad.

"I need blue cheese for this dish," he ordered.

"You got it," one of his fellow cooks walked over and handed Steven a plate of blue cheese clusters. The aroma was so fresh from the distance that even the waitresses standing away turned their heads to smell the blue cheese handed to Steven.

The head chef, Steven, took the plate of blue cheese with one hand, and with his free hand sprinkled them over the salad. It smelled wonderful.

"Get the dressing going," he gave another cook the order.

"Honey and chives?"

"Honey and chives."

In the next minute, Steven was busy cutting red peppers and onions for the salad. A simple task.

Meanwhile, the cooks were adding cream and honey into a pan where a delicious and sweet salad dressing would be formed from it. Chopped pieces of chives would be added to the pan to increase the zest of the dressing. Simultaneously, the welcoming sound of sizzling dressing could be heard across the kitchen. The same cooks, after stirring the dressing, would take the little dressing they had produced and carefully pour it into a tiny pitcher.

Afterwards, Steven would add the red peppers and onions he had cut onto the salad, while one of the cooks would place the tiny pitcher onto the salad plate. To top it all off, sous chef James finished grilling the sliced tomatoes finally came over to place the slices onto the salad.

"It is done," Steven remarked. "Good job, everyone."

A waitress arrived to take the dish outside the kitchen, but not before saying, "Wow, Mr. Stone. This looks as delicious as ever! Could you make me one, sometime?"

The ex-Hoenn champ laughed. "When we have time, perhaps. The customers come first. Metagross! Take this to the customer."

That plate of salad was taken into Metagross' care, via controlled psychic power. Metagross levitated off the ground and the salad was taken out to the customer in the next minute. Steven and the rest of his cooking team, though, had to focus on the next running of orders. There were a lot of them!

On another side of the kitchen, cooks were preparing a multiple appetizer plate. Thin and crisp rice crackers topped with a choice of handmade cream cheese or humus (combining vegetable oil, garlic, and assorted herbs). Why, there was another group of cooks roasting spinach and cheese over a pocket of bread and rice!

* * *

Outside the kitchen, waiters and waitresses were busy trying to serve their respective customers. There might be some wanting to drink sparkling juice of different flavours and berries, some might want to delicately sample red or white wine, and some might want the liberty of drinking plain water with a side of squeezed lemon or lime juice.

Indeed, once the food was out of the kitchen, it would be taken by the waiters/waitresses by hand to table. Given the amount of people they had to serve (two levels!), it was no wonder that it serving the food was a tedious job, and it was no wonder the kitchen had two elevators installed to rapidly transport the food from bottom to top. In fact, the two elevators were in the lobby's plain sight. People who walked into the lobby could see the waitresses in the steel-framed elevator carrying servings and servings of food.

Currently, the dishes that the kitchen had created were on their way to their respective customers. As the waitresses walked out of the elevator, they were met with a blinding view of the sunset in the distance, as the first thing they saw upon walking out was the glass window in the distance. The soup and salad would be taken to a table where a newlywed couple would be happily enjoying them.

* * *

Back at the kitchen, Steven just received an order for a making of a molten cheese fondue. Knowing that a cheese fondue could harden without a constant supply of heat, he motioned for one of his staff for a pot and stand.

"You're going to have to light the fire for them," he reminded the waiter.

"Yes, sir," the waiter nodded.

Steven then walked in to a huge refrigerated storage and walked out carrying a huge block of aged cheese weighing several kilograms.

_This won't take long_, he thought.

With a specific knife, Steven cut a huge block of the aged cheese and placed it in the pot. A loaf of freshly baked bread was placed with the fondue set after. It was a busy night, and Steven was perfectly fine with that.

"We're going at a good pace, guys," Steven encouraged. "Let's make this good."

"Steven! A customer's ordered a Stone Accolade with red wine!"

"We're on it," Steven started.

The one dish that made Stone Restaurant and Bistro regionally famous: it was also unique to Steven too. A Stone Accolade consisted of choice spices, wonderfully fresh mushrooms, onions and peppers mixed and cooked together with garlic, olive oil, and – optionally – a choice of red or white wine, with a tiny core of cold, aged blue cheese, and complimented with genuinely thin slices of roast beef. To start, another three of Steven's cooks would be onto separate tasks. One cook would be baking a huge envelope of rice flour as well as making an onion au jus combined with herbs, while the other would be sautéing a slice of mozzarella also over olive oil whilst preparing to caramelise onions. James, the sous chef, was hastily waiting for the roast beef to – well – finish roasting.

Steven stirred the spices, peppers, and garlic, while hearing the sizzling sound of food ring throughout the kitchen. After a while, Steven reached out to take a bottle of red wine. He poured a small portion of the wine into the pan and saw a fire flare into the air. Steven continued to stir the concoction of peppers, mushrooms, onions, and spices until the flame disappeared. By then most of the other cooks were finished with their respective tasks and placed their works on a very flat and hot stone, which served as a plate. The thin, flat, cake of rice flour was into small squares by the cooks.

"The rice flour has been cooked well," the cook remarked. "It's ready, Steven."

All except for James, who had just begun to carefully take out the slab of roast beef, and began to carefully cut thin slices of the meat and pile them on the board. After a considerable amount of roast beef was piled up, James d'Arc slid the cutting knife under the stack of roast beef and tossed the meat onto the stone plate – namely the Stone Accolade.

Steven took the pan he had been working with and poured the well-cooked contents onto each square of rice flour. The cook immediately went to place a cold marble-sized ball of aged blue cheese on top of the cooked contents, followed by folding each thin square into parcels and enclosing the cooked contents as well as the aged blue cheese. In addition, this cook placed a miniature cup of herbed onion au jus to complete the stone dish. The second cook poured caramelised onions onto the stone. On top of the onions, he placed the sautéed slice of mozzarella.

"It is finished," Steven said. "You should be proud, guys."

The cooks smiled and went back to work.

"Order up!" Steven called out.

A young 19-year old waitress with shoulder-length auburn hair, dressed in the classic outfit of a white blouse and black vest, along with a black skirt quickly arrived to take the flat stone away from the kitchen. She had a name, of course. Martine Grenadine. She had been working at the Stone Restaurant and Bistro for two months, but after two months she accumulated a lot of experience at the restaurant than most would have anticipated, never mind the number of boys who looked at her and hoping to get her attention. In effect, she was said to be the next owner of the restaurant once Steven left, despite the number of workers in the restaurant.

"Will do, sir," Martine happily walked away with the burning hot stone (held with a glove) toward one of the two elevators in the kitchen. The elevator arrived almost instantly as Martine walked in. The doors closed, the elevator shot upward, and Martine walked out to find the table who ordered the trademark dish.

Eventually, she found it.

"Here you go," she said to the couple who were sitting down for the food. "Sorry about the wait, but the Stone Accolade takes a while to prepare. Red wine has been cooked with it as you asked, and please be careful: the stone is very hot."

"The view makes the wait worthwhile," the man said. "Thanks for the warning."

Martine bowed her head and walked away. Meanwhile, the customer cut open one of the rice parcels using only a fork, where a combination of onions, peppers, and spices burst out of the parcel and sizzled onto the stone. The customer seemed very satisfied and savoured every bite he could manage, and very slowly, come to that. With each bite of the Stone Accolade envelopes, eaten with a little bit of caramelised onion and a bit of grinded peppercorn, the flavours exploded in his mouth. As a result: complete satisfaction at its finest.

Martine, on the other hand, fetched a pitcher of ice water and filled the customers' glass.

"Complements to the chef and his cooks," the man's wife said to Martine.

"Thank you! Of course!" Martine said happily. "I'll be sure to let him know."

* * *

After hours, with many people having their first-class fill of food and paying their bills, it was time to close the restaurant. It felt great, having to serve so many people in a wonderful environment such as this one.

"Another good running of business today," Steven smiled as he locked the doors of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro, whilst leaving the spotlights outside to reflect the aspiring design of the establishment. Steven was quite happy with the usual business.

"How are our profits today?" he said without looking.

He knew Martine and James would be among the last to leave. Also, James acted as a part-time accountant for the Stone Restaurant and Bistro, having graduated with a business degree at a university in Lumiose City the year before.

"We have taken in around 700,000 Pokedollars in revenue tonight," he said. "It's pretty good considering the number of people who showed up tonight. If not half the population of Cyllage City, a lot of people have enjoyed their meals, yes. If you don't count tips and gratitude, we're probably going to make an estimated… at least 250,000 in profits. I'm counting maintenance for the rock exhibition too."

"Excellent," Steven Stone smiled. "You've done well, James."

"It'd help if you could open a private business office in the restaurant someday," James said half-amusingly.

Steven yawned, but kept his smile. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to invest in a little expansion. We've plenty of profits already to add an office."

"You said it, boss!" Martine's sharp, but gentle, voice said.

Steven shook his head. "Martine… we've talked about this already. You don't have to go that far calling me boss. Mr. Stone works fine. Or, like the others, you can call me Steven."

"Sure… Steven," Martine reluctantly said, while brushing her red bangs from her forehead. "By the way, the customers send their regards to the chefs."

James smirked at first, but it faded into a smile. Steven did likewise.

The three of them walked past the shoreline of Cyllage City. Given the Stone Restaurant and Bistro was strategically positioned next to the shoreline, where the sun sets in the west, it was breathtaking to see the faintest sliver of light with the relaxing sounds of ocean waves.

But as they continued walking, Steven felt something out of place.

"Anyone notice the 'for sale' has gone missing?" he said.

James turned his head back to see what Steven meant. Across the restaurant he worked at, there was a plain, flat, piece of property that spanned a length that rivalled the building across from it. The property was barren and flat with nothing on it except for ground, but it was very wide and spacious. Initially, there was a 'for sale' sign advertising the sale of the property, but now it had been removed. For Steven and James, it was a sign of increasing business and profits.

"Someone must have bought it to develop residential blocs, I hope," James said.

"Maybe the developer will make offices," Steven added. "A hotel or maybe even a resort building! That'd be the stuff!"

That would not have been a surprise, given that the property faced the equally spectacular view of the west coast from an angle, even though Steven's restaurant was directly in front of it, and it was at level on the ground. Residents could move into the buildings, where they could treat themselves for dinner at the first-class restaurant.

"Just wait for increasing business," James said. "It should take a few weeks, but it'll be worth it."

"You said it," Steven agreed.

Or so Steven and James hoped. Martine alone was less sure.

* * *

**There's your teaser! Now... I'm off to working on another story...**

**Doesn't this chapter make you hungry? Anyone who reviews gets a free meal from Steven!**


End file.
